A bruiser in the f****** boardroom

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary appears to be the antithesis of the well-rounded and well-loved image that most corporate chiefs are desperate to cultivate. He is fiery, belligerent and antagonistic to competitors, unions, staff and even customers. He is seriously foul-mouthed, outspoken, and appears not to give a second thought about damaging his profile, or the company's.

Or does he? There is a school of thought that this is all an act, and a brilliant act at that. Has he proven that there is no such thing as bad publicity? Ryanair has always punched and headbutted way above its weight. For O'Leary, there are no Queensbury rules - he sees rules as only for the hard of thinking.

Tony Ryan, who founded Ryanair in 1985, spotted a significant gap in the market. Aer Lingus, the national carrier and Ryan's previous employer, was charging an average of £200 return to travel between Dublin and London. Ryanair decided to charge an unbelievable £99.

Ryan was bold and robust but, after racking up huge losses, he pushed his protege and former financial advisor, O'Leary, through the ranks to become chief executive.

O'Leary had attended Trinity College, Dublin. He was smart and diligent with rather a quiet disposition but had left Trinity without a degree. Being thrust into a leadership position at Ryanair was the making of O'Leary and he has played his hand magnificently.

The new airline soon found itself locked in battle with the Dublin airports authority over airport charges. This was a pivotal moment in the development of both Ryanair and O'Leary. He learnt quickly that the future of the airline would lie outside its native land and, far more importantly, he realised that there was no such thing as equal opportunities, especially when you are the brash new boy on the block.

Like all winners, he has no problem with plagiarism. True innovation can be exhilarating for any organisation, but so can judicious theft of ideas. In 1991, he visited Southwest Airlines.

The pioneering and handsomely profitable Dallas-based outfit was one of the first to depart from the traditional 'hub-and-spoke' flight routing system. Southwest built its success on flying multiple short, quick trips into secondary airports of major cities, and standardising on one model of aircraft, the Boeing 737.

This standardisation reduced maintenance costs and shaved time off turn arounds at airports, helping Southwest become the fourth-largest US airline in terms of domestic passengers carried. It has been profitable every year since 1973. O'Leary had his vision, even if it was secondhand.

Ryanair became the model that many in Europe followed but never quite matched. These carriers are no longer just copycats; they are setting the standards for budget airlines around the world, and even have a Harvard Business School case study about them.

O'Leary is the driving force behind the Ryanair approach - innovative, fast, aggressive and unapologetic. He needs little invitation and no cajoling to provide a stream of invective on just about anything that appears to stand in his way. The obvious targets are his competitors, and he singles out BA and Aer Lingus for special treatment, but there is no favouritism - he has even crossed swords with the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern.

Against the backdrop of a quintessentially polite bunch of 'old Europe' national carriers, who have always competed in polite fashion, he has 'gone for it'. All is fair game. He is the most quotable chief executive the circuit, deified by his senior management, but often at loggerheads with pilots and baggage handlers.

He is not afraid to take on his staff if they stand in the way of cost reduction. In 1998, he took on the baggage handlers, with their eyes on the better pay and working conditions of the unionised Aer Lingus workforce. A series of strikes led to O'Leary and his top team personally loading the baggage onto planes.

As ever, the dispute found O'Leary being abusive and abrupt with striking staff and, after the intervention of the Irish government, there was a face-to-face shouting match with Ahern. Great publicity - not necessarily positive, but publicity all the same. Did he care? Not outwardly at least.

So whether maniac or marketing genius, O'Leary has presided over the most explosive growth, and his aggressive stance has delivered a huge haul of awards, including being voted European businessman of the year by Fortune magazine in 2001. He is now one of the richest men in Ireland.

After his recent marriage, there was hope from his competitors that he might mellow, but there's no chance. He is as fired up as ever, and has another pile of cost-saving and revenue-generating ideas, all delivered in his usual 'in your face' manner.

Is it still an act, or is this now the real O'Leary? The personality, the behaviour and Ryanair's profile have become moulded into one. He has mentioned being ready to leave within five years, but will anyone be able to follow in the same vitriolic footsteps? I doubt it; it will take a different sort of leader, with a different image.

Leaders tend to be hunters or farmers. In times of turbulent change; hunters are best placed to deliver. In times of steady growth, it is better to have a farmer who can keep things steady while delivering the profits. And in times of crisis?

Well, he has managed to bluster and curse his way round any signs of incipient crisis at the airline so far, and will probably continue to do so.

The only thing is: Will O'Leary ever really tire of the hunt? Probably not.